The Girl No One Knew

Chapter 17

I want to say that Zuko knew exactly what he was doing, but I wasn't so sure that that was the case. In fact, it seemed to me that he was borderline insane. "Zuko," I said. "I think it's time that you give this a rest. Just for a short time."

"How could you say that, Saki?" He looked utterly distraught. "I'm so close! And you're trying to stop me again by getting in the way!"

Okay, that kind of stung....but he wasn't wrong.

"I'm not trying to get in your way," I replied discreetly. Liar, I thought to myself. "I just....I just want you to be careful. I don't want this to completely consume you. I've seen what obsession can do to people...."

"Saki," Zuko sighed, only to be interrupted by a soldier.

"Prince Zuko! Prince Zuko!" Bao was calling out. His voice trailed off as he'd apparently passed my door, assuming that Zuko was in his own quarters. Zuko stood up, helping me to my feet right after. He opened the door, both of us forgetting that I was still in my undergarments — I didn't exactly own any pajamas — just as Bao had come running back. "Prince Zuko! We ha —" He froze. Bao's gaze went from Zuko, to me, and back to Zuko.

Well, this was definitely awkward.

"What do you want?" Zuko snarled, "Spit it out!" I understand that Zuko wanted the crew to remain professional when it came to me, but his overprotective nature seemed to worsen around Bao. As much as I loved Zuko, he was being way too harsh.

"R-Right," Bao sputtered. "We've tracked the avatar to a small village." He kept his head down, stealing a glance at me every so often. His face was as red as the Fire Nation armor he and the others wore.

"Then why are you still standing here?" Zuko snapped. "Change our course! We need to catch him!" Startled, Bao nodded and hurried off to inform the crew of the prince's commands. Zuko looked back at me, blushing slightly as if he was just now noticing. "You should probably get dressed..." He closed my door to leave me to it and immediately started shouting at his soldiers.

It only took me a couple of minutes to put on my shirt and pants, and my five silver bracelets. Three around my left bicep, one around the right, and one on my right ankle. My hair was mostly down, except for the small bun sitting on top of my hair. This was my usual look, every single day since we'd first set sail.

I slid my feet into my shoes and ran out on deck. "We'll reach the village by nightfall," I overheard a soldier telling Zuko. He didn't seem happy about this news.

"We need to get there sooner!" Zuko grunted.

The soldier only shook his head. "It's impossible, sir. We could only do so if we, ourselves, had a flying bison."

Zuko wasn't at all amused by the attempt at humor, and commenced to launch a fireball at the soldier. "Hey!" I shouted, ran in between the two and took hold of Zuko's wrist, and held his face in my free hand as I looked him straight in the eye. "Stop it," I lowered my voice. "This is exactly what I was warning you about." He glared down me, his eyes burning with rage. He looked up at the soldier, then down at me as he slowly began to calm down. By then, the soldier was already running away to resume his duties to keep from upsetting the prince any more.

"Listen to me," I said quietly, his jaw still gripped in my hand. "If you plan on accomplishing anything, you need to control your temper."

"Okay...."

"No," I shook my head. "I want you to promise me that you won't let this get to your head. Promise me, Zuko."

"I promise...." He sighed heavily, taking my hands away from his wrist and jaw, and holding them in his own. "I'm sorry, and I promise that I won't let this get to my head."

Liar, I thought.

Come nightfall, we'd arrived to the village. It was significantly small — and damaged; the avatar and the others had definitely been here. I followed Zuko, Iroh, and a couple of soldiers to a small hut in the village. Just as we had approached the home, a tired man had opened the door. "Having trouble sleeping?" Zuko asked, following up with, "Seen the avatar lately?" He shoved the man back into his home, forcing him to the ground as we walked in. Part of me wanted to stop Zuko again, but the other part of me is what made me stay in my spot. I promised I'd help him, and I always keep my promises.

"Where is he?" Zuko's tone was harsh.

The man was so frightened that he was shaking, which seemed to be affecting his ability to speak. He stuttered through his words, completely unable to finish a single word. "H-H.....H-He....."

"Spit it out!" Zuko shot a flaming orb at the man, intentionally missing by only a few inches.

"H-He and his friends are going to the Fire Nation!" He blurted, shakily holding his hands up in a fearful surrender. "H-He wants to communicate with Avatar Roku!"

With that little bit of information, Zuko was ordering us back onto the ship. As they were walking out of the home, I stayed behind for a moment. "I'm sorry," I told the man quietly as he lay petrified on the floor. "This war will be over soon. No one will have to suffer anymore."

"How can you be so sure?" He asked in a hushed voice. "Who are you, anyway? Surely, you cannot be the Firelord's daughter Azula."

"I wouldn't dream of it," I answered.

"Saki, let's go!" I heard Zuko calling for me.

I looked back at the man one last time before saying, "I'm going to keep this from getting any worse. I don't know how yet, but I am."

And I was off. Off on yet another quest to catch up with the avatar and my friends.